Gunn Grande is Professor of Palliative Care at the Division of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work, University of Manchester, UK. She has been working within cancer and palliative care research for over 25 years, with main interests including access to palliative care and how to support care at home.

Her recent research has particularly focused on the support needs of family carers when caring for someone at home towards the end of life. This includes work on the development and testing of a Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) intervention and investigation into the scale and impact of carers’ contributions to end of life care.

ABSTRACT

Title: How do we support family carers to support patients towards the end of life?

Summary: Family carers are crucial in supporting patients and enabling them to be cared for at home towards the end of life if that is their preference. However, this also places considerable burden on carers and can have considerable impact on their health and wellbeing. This talk will consider the types of support that carers need both to enable them to look after the patient and to preserve their own wellbeing and how healthcare services can best support them. This will draw on a programme of work on a Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool intervention to illustrate main principles.